Left Behind
by CC.Lda
Summary: 7years ago something went wrong during a mission. Arthur barely escaped alive. Then one night everything comes back in the form of an ex-friend whose only interest is taking from Arthur what he loves the most, his wife, Ariadne.
1. Peter

**N.A: **So this will be my first multi-chapter fic of Inception. I hope you enjoy it ^^

**Left Behind**

**Chapter One**

_Peter_

_"I have found the paradox,_

_that if you love until it hurts,_

_there can be no more hurt,_

_only more love."_ ~ Mother Teresa

Arthur was tired. It had been a long week and it wasn't over yet. Ariadne was still revising all the levels and he knew that there were some really big gaps in some of them. She was tired too, that was the only reasonable explanation for her mistakes. Normally she would have done it in a stitch and still had the time for details.

But that wasn't a normal job. The whole team was tired; they had been working 48hours in days that only had 24. Even when they slept they had odd dreams about the job. Arthur wasn't sure any more if it had been a good idea to bring Ariadne with him.

Truth was he didn't trust any other Architect. After that first job, after seeing her amazing work, he knew she was the best. The fact that he had fallen in love with her had helped too of course, but he tried no to mix things. When it came to work Ariadne was an Architect, and one of the best he knew, when it came to their private live Ariadne was his…

He couldn't say "lover" without making her mad, he didn't knew why, but she seemed to have a problem with that word. Her face would get serious and she would change the theme of the conversation quickly. He avoided that word like little red riding hood should have avoided the wolf, as if that word could kill him on the spot.

She wasn't his wife, they hadn't married, but that didn't stop them to have over 50 different passports that stated otherwise. In France they were Monsieur and Madame Burn, in Spain Senõr and Senhora Gomez and Arthur could go on forever with their passports and fake I.D.s that they had created. So they were married, without being married.

When they had visit Ariadne's family a while ago, and had received a package for Mister and Misses Smith, her family had looked shocked. Ariadne had laugh and said it was actually a funny story and had made it up how Arthur just couldn't get his Visa to visit them and they had to get "married" so they could use the plane tickets they had already bought.

He still didn't think her family had believed them, but they hadn't argued and that was enough for them. He heard Ariadne moving inside their bedroom. She was sleeping, a nightmare most probably since she was twisting and turning in bed when he went there to check on her. He sited near her and caressed her skin. She smiled and stopped moving. He smiles. The nightmare was gone. He watched her.

Then he got up and went to the living room. His eyes looking all around, something is wrong and he knows it. He just can't figure out what. Then he sees it. The frames on the wall, with their pictures, the cosy couches full of pillows picked by Ariadne, the fact that he doesn't remember Ariadne going to bed or they getting to their house outside Paris, since they are working in Beijing, China.

He hears someone clapping hands and a man appears. He's tall, brown harried just like Arthur, tall and slim. He wears a suit, not a three piece one, just a normal black suit with a black tie. Arthur looks at him. He knows this man too well and he hates him.

"Hello Arthur!" The man is greeting Arthur. His smile is so big Arthur can see his white teeth. Arthur does his best to not kill him. His face is serious as the man walks into the living room looking at the pictures on the wall. Arthur closes his fists; he doesn't want that man to look at Ariadne. Even if is just a photograph.

"What do you want?" The man looks at him, he's still smiling and Arthur is starting to lose his patience.

"Arthur, Arthur… Why so icy? We are friends!" Arthur laughs. If that was supposed to be a joke, it was really a sick one."Yeah! Really great friends, OH! And then you left me to die, remember? – the man doesn't blink, he doesn't seam mad at all - If Cobb hadn't been there I would have been stuck in limbo until now!"

The man raises his shoulders, his face still calm. Almost as if Arthur is reporting the weather in a far away city.

"Oh don't be like that!" He ends up saying "I'm sure you could have gotten out of limbo just fine…"

Arthur laughs again then he rolls his eyes. "Easy for you to say, it wasn't you that was going there…"

The man shakes his head slowly and puts his hands in his pockets. Arthur pressed his teeth so tight he can hear them.

"So full of anger Arthur, you have got to learn to loosen up…" the man smiles "I always though that having a dedicated wife would help but it seams like it didn't…"

Arthur takes a step towards the men. They are still several steps apart, but their eyes are locked in each other.

"Don't you bring her into this…"The man laughs a bit. Arthur is so furious he doesn't even know where to start. The man picks a chair form a table near him and seats himself.

"Don't you stress over it, Arthur." he raises his shoulders "I didn't! The Ariadne in the other room is just your projection of her…"

Arthur can hear himself breathing but he doesn't care. He just wants to know why that man his there, inside his head, and how does he know Ariadne's name, how does he know they are together. And what does he want.

"What do you want?"

The man touches his nose like he is wiping it. Then he puts a hand in his shin.

" Well, this will sound weird, with us being friends and all…"

Arthur cuts him short. "I'm not your friend any more Peter, and you know it, so stop saying it…"

Peter. Arthur hasn't said that name in years. He's not even quiet sure Ariadne has ever heard of him. He's always trying to forget that Peter exists, that Peter even existed. Peter shakes his shoulders.

"Fine. Then it will be easier to take her…"

Arthur blinks. He's not quite sure he understands what Peter is saying, or that he wants to understand. "Take her?"

Peter smiles. "She's the best Architect on the market you see and I need the best Architect on my team…"

Arthur takes another step closer to Peter. In the other room, projection-Ariadne revolves in bed and calls "Arthur" in her sleep. Arthur can fell his heart racing; looking at Peters smile he's pulling all his strength to not kill him in the spot.

"You wouldn't dare!"

Peter rolls his eyes. "Why not? I'll let her go, after the job off course…"

Arthur can fell his fists shaking even thought he has closed them tight. He knows Peter too well, he knows what he's capable of doing and stealing someone because of their talent is something he would do. Stealing a wife from her husband is like stealing candy from a child to him.

He hates Peter, and he hates the fact that once he called him friend. He hates himself for having been friends with this monster. Projection-Ariadne is still moving in bed, her nightmare a mere refection of Arthur anxiety and fears.

"What the hell are you planning? What the hell is so important that you have to take my wife?"

Peter shakes his shoulders again. "Well you see Arthur, I can't get into details, but I can say you this… You're in an horrifying car crash, breaks my heart to say it pal, your wife didn't make it and you're gonna end up in some hospital wing for a month or two, enough time for me to get the job done…"

Arthur cuts him off. His range is tsunami but he has to admit that his subconscious hasn't even start to move towards Peter. So a part of him is still relaxed enough and doesn't consider him a treat.

"And then you'll just send her back? Like she's a pen you can borrow from me?"

Peter laughs. "My, my Arthur, you have to learn how to share, you were never quite good at it, but I never ever though that…"

Arthur cuts him off again. "If when I wake up she isn't with me Peter, you'll regret it…"

Peters eyes have an evil grim on them. Arthur thinks about how he was so blind. How he trusted Peter with his life and almost ended in limbo. Peter, who seamed amused until now has a mood swing, he's serious now. He's starting to understand that he misunderstood the whole Arthur Ariadne relationship; he never thought it was so serious. He though Ariadne was just one more girl. Apparently, he was wrong.

"I will?" He's trying to be sarcastic but Arthur notices that his old friend is not so confident now. With his wrists still closed thigh Arthur hears himself saying:

"I'll spend all my money if I have too Peter, but I'll hunt you down if you take her…"

Peter smiles. "My, my…" he starts as the smile in his face vanishes "How you have changed Arthur… You were a "One Man Band" and now look at you", he points at Arthur "all that money you have, just thrown out the window so you can have your girl with you…" Peters smile again, this time is an ironic smile "That's so sweet that's almost romantic…"

Arthur takes another step towards Peter. He's now at ten or seven feet away from him.

"I'm warning you Peter…" Peter shakes his shoulders. He doesn't care, Arthur knows why, but Peter still explains it to him, like Arthur was a kid who as never done this type of jobs before.

"You know I'll wake up first, a good five to ten minutes before you Arthur, you know I'm not alone, for all you know, she might not even be with you in bed right now…"

Arthur is still shaking, but controlling it. He's not going to lose control in front of Peter. His "old friend" doesn't deserve to know the impact he is causing in him. "There are _dozens_ of Architects out there Peter" Arthur starts "some of them are better than Ariadne…"

Peter nods. "True, some of them are older, more trained and more skilled, but they all have a huge defect…"

Arthur blinks his eyes. He is not quite sure he understood what Peter meant with his last sentence. "What?"

Peter smiles before saying in a tone of "matter of fact" "They don't have you pushing them towards perfection…"

Arthur blinks his eyes again. In his opinion Peter has gone mad, and that's the only explanation possible. "What?"

Peter, who is still smiling, gets up and starts arranging his tie.

"You push people Arthur; you make them want to be the best at what they do." Arthur is looking speechless at Peter as he goes on "Ariadne is one of the best; it took her three years to get famous in our little dream world… And she's what? 20? 21?"

Arthur rolls his eyes. "25, next month…"

This time is Peter who blinks, like he's truly amazed. "You're only two years apart? I though she was younger…"

Arthur shakes his shoulders. "She likes bright colours, scarves and has a round childish face, which makes her look younger…"

Peter smiles. "Ah! And then there's that saying that a woman in love is more beautiful than ever…"

- Shut your mouth, Peter!

Peter is still smiling, he likes seeing Arthur mad, and it was one of his favourite hobbies when they were friends. He liked teasing Arthur by saying he was good enough. Peter knows that Arthur got to be the best point man ever to exist because he was pushed into it, like now Arthur is pushing Ariadne.

"If she were glowing, she would be pregnant…"

"I'm not warning you again!"

Peter laughs. It's like nothing ever happen and they are still friends. Making fun of each other and saying treats that they never intend to do. Only now they aren't friends anymore, now they are enemies, or something like it. Peter as nothing against Arthur, besides the fact that he's monopolising the best Architect around and well, Arthur hates Peter because of a "stupid incident" that happened years ago.

"It's strange isn't it?" Peter says still mocking Arthur "Why don't you kill yourself Arthur? Wake up and find out if she's still there, right by your side…"

Arthur grins.

"If I dream of a gun it will be to shot you, not me that I can guarantee you…"

Peter laughs. "AH! That's the Arthur I know…"

Arthur takes another step towards Peter. "If you take her, you take me as well…"

Peter shakes his head and moves a little further. Arthur is getting too close and he knows he can't die in dreams, but Arthur can make him suffer a bit before killing him. Peter never liked pain or torture as a matter of fact.

"No can do old chap!" he smiles at Arthur "You see, husband and wife working together against their will with one of their greatest enemies, you would betray me as soon as you could, and I wouldn't blame you, I would do the same…"

Arthur grins. "You did, remember?"

He stares blankly at Arthur. "No… Not exactly…"

Arthur grins again. Peter has to be joking.

- You left me, Cobb and Mary…

Peter shivers. Arthur sees it and finds that he has discovered Peter weak spot. "Don't say her name, Arthur…"

Arthur smiles, a triumph smile. "Why? Is this your dream? Do you have a Shadow, Peter? I never though you had enough conscience to create one…"

Peter smiles. "Arthur, Arthur…"

Arthur looks around; he's expecting a Shadow Mary any time now. Then he looks again at Peter "I don't have Mary on my conscience Peter; I wasn't the one who left his partner and forger behind…"

Peter shakes his shoulders. "It had to be done…"

Arthur rolls his eyes before asking: "Tell me, is she still in limbo? Still in coma at St. Matthews? Are you still waiting for her to come back after you left her to die?"

Peter pretends that he didn't heard Arthur and says in a dreamy far of voice "We were the perfect team, you know, you, my brave Point Man, Cobb my creative Architect, Mary my amazing forger, Sakura my perfect chemist… And then Cobb left us because of Mall, his love, his life, remember that? She was pregnant…"

Arthur smiles ironically. He remembers Mall all right, he remembers her all too well from that last job with Cobb. "Off course I do, I went to their wedding, not thanks to you I might add…"

Peter sniffs. "Hmm… I never quiet forgave him for leaving us you know, for saving you instead of Mary…"

Arthur sakes his shoulders, he doesn't care about what Peter thinks. He doesn't care if Peter doesn't forgive Cobb, there was nothing to forgive. "He had to choose, Mary was wounded, and she was yours to safe Peter, she loved you, she wouldn't take Cobb's hand, I did…"

"Hmm…"

Arthur looks at Peter who turned himself towards the wall and his looking at the pictures in it. In them there are pictures of Arthur and Ariadne from all over the world. They would always make a small tour of the country where they worked before they did a job. There was one of them in Spain, near the "Sagrada Familia", another one in Italy near the Pisa Tower, one of them in Australia with a kangaroo. Arthur stops looking at the photos and says:

"You lost your team Peter, because you cared more about having the job done that making sure your whole team was safe and that we all were going to return…"

Peter nods. He's looking at a picture of Ariadne with a panda, a picture that shouldn't be on that wall because they still haven't gone back from the job in Beijing. "True…"

Arthur wishes he could erase all the pictures from the wall but he can't. This isn't his dream, his Peters. Peter is creator and the intruder. Arthur can only watch. "And that's why I won't let you take Ariadne…" Arthur says, is voice in a low serious tone. "She's not going to be left in limbo, Peter! She's not getting into a coma from which she's not going to wake up…"

Peter turns to Arthur and Arthur notices that Ariadne isn't in the pictures any more. Mary is there now. It's Mary who is holding the panda, and its Mary near the kangaroo. Peters eyes and glowing with hate. "You don't know that!"

Arthur walks all the way until he is face to face with Peter. They are more or less of the same weigh and height. They competed with one another for so many years, since High Scholl as Arthur can recall, that their dressing style is almost the same, as it's their body shapes.

Mary, Arthur finds himself thinking, was short like Ariadne, but she was a ginger with big blue eyes, and not a brunette with deep brown eyes. Mary was full of spirit, like Ariadne, and like her, Mary wouldn't do anything to hurt the team. Arthur knows they all survived the last job with Cobb because Ariadne was there, she saved them all when she helped Cobb save himself. "I know that you don't care about Ariadne, Peter and I know that I love her too much to risk anything…"

Peter smiles. A crocks smile. Arthur thinks he was dumb to believe that his high school friend wouldn't change and that they would be pals forever, even after Peter changed and started to think just about the money.

Arthur thinks it was because he was young and because Peter was his best friend, and he just couldn't believe that his best friend would leave him to die. Yet, he had so Arthur had changed friends. Peter looks him in the eyes before asking "What makes you think I haven't taken her yet?"

- The music…

- What music?

Arthur smiled as Edith Piafs "Non, je ne regret de rien" plays softly. He had been hearing the song for some time now, and he knew that it meant that Ariadne was fine. That she was waiting for him to wake up. Since it was Peters dream, he couldn't hear the song.

Arthur goes to a draw where he knows there's a gun and taking it, he points the gun at Peter saying:

"Goodbye Peter, and please don't come to visit ever again…"

Ariadne catches Arthur's hand when he wakes up. He's all sweaty but even so she puts her hands around his face and hears him calling her softly. "I'm here, Arthur… I'm here..."

Arthur puts his hand behind her neck and smiles. She's still there, he didn't take her. Nothing else mattered.

They leave the hotel they were in, switch names, and continue to work on the job in Beijing. They're more careful now. Arthur has called Cobb and he has told him, that Sakura is missing and so is Carlos, a very famous Spanish forger. Whatever Peter is planning is big, and he is looking at the market and taking the best of the best with him.

Arthur sits with Ariadne at a small Korean restaurant in Korean Town and thinks it's funny that China has Korean Towns just like the USA have China Towns. After a while he has told Ariadne most of Peters story. Ariadne is amazed and shocked at the same time.

"He just left her?"

Arthur nods. "Yes…"

Ariadne blinks, for a few seconds its like she can't find words to express herself.

"Wow… That's…" she looks at Arthur curious "And she's…"

Arthur raises is shoulders. "In a coma, for more than five years now I recall…"

Ariadne whistles. The waiter leaves the food before them and leaves. Ariadne shakes her head slowly.

"She's not going to awake, is she Arthur?"

It's Arthur turn to shake his head.

"I don't know Ariadne, in limbo years can be minutes and minutes can be years." Ariadne nods at him, she knows that "She can still be young in her dream, still running all around, or she can be very old and dying, the problem is if she knows she's in limbo…"

"I know… If she doesn't know that, she can't return…"

Arthur takes a deep breath. "Her brain will just shut down when she dies in her dream if she doesn't get it straight, if she doesn't believe that she's in limbo…"

Ariadne smiles, a sad smile, Arthur smiles sadly too. Ariadne has got a good heart. She doesn't know Mary and yet he knows she's feeling sorry for her. "If it was before Malls time, then you didn't have tokens…"

"Exactly…"

Ariadne shakes her head. "She can never be sure?"

"I suppose not…"Arthur picks up his chopsticks. He doesn't want to talk about Mary or Peter any more. Ariadne decides to finish the conversation. "That's sad…"

Arthur shakes his shoulders. Mary wasn't a big friend of his, he liked her because she liked Peter and Peter liked her. Peter was his friend, so was Cobb but Mary was just Mary. Sure, he fells sorry that she's in a coma because of Peter but there's nothing he can do. Now its all up to her. "Cobb tried to save her, you know, but she wanted Peter to save her, she believed he was going to put her above the job…"

Ariadne nods. She understands why Mary would believe that, she knows Arthur would come back for her. "Did Cobb believe it?"

Arthur shakes his head. In his head memories of the job he did so many years ago with Mary, Cobb and Peter are coming back. He can see himself lying on the floor and feeling himself swinging into limbo. Only one more moment, Cobb is screaming for Mary but she's screaming for him to go away. Then Cobb calls Arthur and picks him up. He can hear Cobb's voice

"When you see your team leader, leaving his best friend to die, you don't hope that he's going to save his girlfriend…"

Ariadne nodded. She remembers how Cobb has so angry at Arthur when Saito was shoot during her first job. It was probably because it reminded him of Mary and of how Peter had left them. Maybe, for a second, he though Arthur had become just like Peter. That was stupid though, Arthur was nothing like Peter.

"Do you think, he's going to come back?"

"I think he understood my message…"

Ariadne opened her mouth in shock.

"Don't tell me you shoot him slowly!"

Arthur raises his shoulders. "It doesn't matter, if he touches you, even if he will "return" you, like he said, at the end of the job, he's a dead man, mark my words Ariadne, you are not going to work with or for him…"

Ariadne smiles and picks up her chopsticks. "I'm a big girl Arthur…"

Arthur smiles, Ariadne starts eating. He looks at her and thinks how lucky he is for having her. "I know…"

Ariadne points her chopsticks at him before saying: "But don't you let that bastard take me…"

He laughs before saying "You have my word."

Ariadne woke up. Something wasn't right; she could fell it, although she could quite put her finger on what it was. What was it? She had left her mazes covered, she remember that. She also remembered turning the lights off and since they were in a hotel she hadn't check the gas. So what was it?

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, turned in bed an stretched her arm so she could touch Arthur. She didn't found him. Opening her eyes, she wondered where he had gone. She started to get up, sitting herself slowly on the bed and started lifting a hand towards her eyes when she saw him.

A stranger was sitting on a chair looking at her. She shivered; knowing that he was the reason she had woke up. The stranger studied her for a while, if she was shocked she wasn't screaming, which was good. The liked people who manage to remain calm even in stressful situations.

"Good morning, Miss…" then he stopped and smiled "what name did you use this time?"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. Looking better at the man she had an idea of who he was and she was glad that was snowing in Beijing and she had her warmest pyjamas on, instead of the usual top shorts.

"Mrs Smith…"

The stranger laughed. "Mr and Mrs Smith? Ah! Arthur always had a sense of humour although he hides it very well" then he relaxed on the chair "did you know that once he painted "Z" on our boarding school wall just because the Director banished him from "Spanish"?" he smiled "never got caught if I recall it right…"

Ariadne narrowed her eyes. "What do you want Peter?"

Peter smiled at her. A childish, careless smile that made Ariadne hate him. "Oh! I see my dear friend Arthur has told you about me…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes and hold tight to her blanket. "Arthur isn't your friend any more Peter, friends don't leave friends to die…"

Peter rolled his eyes. "It's a shame Ariadne that Arthur sees it that way, I can assure you, it was a big misunderstanding…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes again. "Arthur assured me otherwise…"

"I bet he did… And I also bet that you are wondering where he is…"

Ariadne opened her eyes in shock. Peter smiled.

"What have you done to him?"

"Not with him?" He sounded disappointed "gosh, you're good…"

"Where's my husband, Peter?"

Peter rolled his eyes and stood up fixing his coat.

"What's up with you two and the husband/wife conversation, you aren't even married… " he looked at her curious "unless you married secretly in Las Vegas…"

Ariadne got of bed, again happy that her pyjamas weren't childish, just plain white, and stood four steps away from Peter. Her arms crossed, her feet tapping the floor, she was mad, Peter could see that.

"Where's my husband? Where's Arthur?"

He smiled to her. "Oh! The poor chap needed vacations, you see, too much work, I sent him to a very nice place, and I didn't even send him alone… Well, Mary was already there, but I bet she took him in…"

Ariadne trembled, before closing her fists and walking in a quick pass to Peter closing the distance. "YOU SON OF…"

"AH! AH! AH!" Peter said stepping back "Language Mrs Smith, married or not, I'm older than you…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes, she was mad beyond believe and trying to stay calm. She pull a bit of her hair behind her ear. "What do you want?"

Peter smiles, Ariadne wants to shoot him but somehow knowing Arthur is in danger, she decides not to. Peter is the only one who knows where Arthur is. "Ariadne, Ariadne, Ariadne, you shock me… Being an Architect and all, what do you think I want?"

Ariadne rolls her eyes. She's not that dumb.

"A maze…"

"Bingo!"

Ariadne took a deep breath. She trembles a bit, its cold in Beijing, it's winter and it's snowing. and Arthur isn't there. "Why me?"

Peter raises his shoulders slightly before saying:

"Let's say this, I need a very special Architect to do a very special maze, and I need to be sure the Architect doesn't quit on me…"

"Why is that?"

Peter fixes his tie on a mirror of the room and uses it to look at Ariadne who's looking at him trough the mirror also. "You see, I recently discovered that Mary has a piece of information I need, and I just have to get to her and know I'll return…" he smiled at her "so you see, I need the best, so they can create me a maze for limbo…"

"That's impossible…"

He raised his shoulders slightly. "Then I suppose, dear old Arthur is lost…" he saw with amusement Ariadne trembling "I heard that after a while you forget that you are in limbo, it sort of becomes your reality…"

Ariadne bit her lip, she knew that was true. That was limbo's most dangerous trap of all. She remembered how Saito almost had gotten trapped there and how Cobb and went to pick him up at his own risk. She crossed her arms to warm herself up. This was Arthur they were talking about. Arthur. Not Saito. Not Mary. Not a complete stranger. Arthur. Her Arthur.

She could die in limbo. But she would do everything she could to get him back. She looked straight into Peters eyes. His smirk was giving her the will to punch him in the face.

"I need to see the original plans" she demanded "After that I'll only need a couple of hours…"

Peter clapped once. A sign of victory. "See Ariadne, I knew you would understand me… Now, as for the plans only Cobb knows them, he was the Architect at the time…"

Running to pick her suitcase, where her clothes where, Ariadne rushed into the bathroom and said as she was closing the door:

"Soon as I get Arthur I'm bailing on you!"

Peter laugh and Ariadne could hear him say as she closed the door "I know sugar plum, I know…"

**End of chapter one.**

**A.N:** Any good?


	2. Cobb

**N.A:** My beta had to go to bed and I know how hard it is to wait for a fic update, so here's the raw version. Hope you don't mind. OH! I also corrected Chapter 1, I had no idea dialogues in english were between "", in portuguese we use - to start a dialogue xD Sorry for that...  
This one goes for my lovely beta reader! 3u!

**Chapter 2**

_Cobb_**  
**

"_Once upon a dream, I was dying for you_  
_ Tating only sweet, drinking memories of you_  
_ Your hand touches my cheek as you whisper softly_

_ Don't forget to breathe_  
_ Our love will be redeemed_  
_ And when you take my hand_  
_ You'll know exactly where I am_"

~ Don't Forget To Breath by Bitter:Sweet

Sugar plum? SUGAR PLUM? Who the hell did he thought he was? Ariadne was beyond mad, way beyond. She hated Peter with an intensity all too new for her. How was it possible that Arthur had been friends with this so called Peter? Ariadne took a deep breath and continued looking at the maze Cobb had done almost seven years ago.

Seven years. That would have been more or less by the time Phillipa was born. She was going to be seven that year; she had asked Ariadne for a make-up box for her birthday. Cobb had been shocked; Ariadne had laughed and promised her that she would get her the make-up box.

It had been only last month and now it just seemed like decades ago. She took another deep breath and massaged her front-head a bit. She was tired and scared. She better started admitting it; after all, it wouldn't do her any good to pretend she had everything under control.

Two boys passed in front of her, laughing and running. They were wearing a red and green t-shirt and shorts; for the looks of it they were playing tag. Mere projections, shadows of real people or people made up by Cobb's mind. Ariadne smiled at Cobb who was not far behind her looking around, probably enjoying his work.

She and Cobb were looking first hand at the garden. Cobb always destroyed his physical mazes, but kept them in memory. He had trained it so well that he could recreate all his mazes. "_Now, that's something_." Ariadne though.

So they had plugged themselves to the machine and were now walking in a beautiful garden. It was spring time, flowers bloomed everywhere and there were butterflies, lots of them really.

It seemed like a fairy tale garden. One Disney would have created no doubt. She smiled again when Cobb approached her with a smile. "So what do you think, Ariadne?"

"It's a beautiful garden…" she smiled "straight out of a Disney animation…"

Cobb laughed. He had gotten younger, Ariadne thought, being with his children had done wonders to him and his personality. He was more relaxed, he could sleep without the machine, and even had gotten himself a normal job.

"Well, that was the point… You see, in that particular mission we wanted the target to believe she was sleeping…"

Ariadne blinked. "Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

Cobb nodded. He was wearing a blue shirt and had jeans. Which was odd but Ariadne didn't have the time to think about it.

"You see, the mission was supposed to be quite simple, we had to steal the plans to a heist that the mob was planning…"

Ariadne blinked. The mob? They had stolen things from the mob? Now that was something new. "Nothing too fancy, you see, the Godfather" Cobb smiled "had a granddaughter, he simply adored her, he took her everywhere, she helped him smuggle stuff in airports and other international spots, she had done so since she was four, first thing she smuggled was a living parrot on her backpack, looking trough the x-ray, the cops thought it was a stuffed toy…"

Ariadne laughed imagining a little girl with a pink Barbie backpack with a living parrot inside fooling the cops at the airport, Cobb continued talking "He told her everything; she knew every single plan, so we knew she was going to be protected against a dream heist…"

Ariadne nodded. That only seamed right, if it was her granddaughter she would do the same. Cobb took a deep breath and passed a hand trough his blondish hair. "That was why we created a dream garden, something she would knew immediately that it wasn't real, she would think it was just a normal dream… Arthur and I were sat in one of the parking benches pretending to be two friends having a chat. Peter was controlling everything, looking for a safe, while Mary was impersonating the girl's boyfriend…"

Ariadne blinked. "She was a forger?"

Cobb looked surprised at her "You didn't knew?"

Ariadne shocked her head. "I had no idea…"

Cobb raised his shoulders slightly. "She wasn't bad; Eames would take her down everyday of the week though…" Ariadne smiled and let Cobb continue "So, Mary was pretending to be the boyfriend and they were walking in the park, talking and laughing, Mary was pretty good at telling jokes, I'll give her that…"

Ariadne took a deep breath before cutting Cobb's conversation short "So basically, she was to believe she was safe and she could talk about everything because it was real a dream and not a fake dream…" Cobb nodded "But something went wrong, Cobb… What was it?"

Cobb looked at the sky before taking a deep breath and saying "The water fountain, Mary passed too close to it…"

Ariadne looked at the fountain; it was in the middle of the park. The surface was plain; it would work like a mirror. "The girl saw Mary's reflection…"

"Yes and since her subconscious was trained to attack that's what it did…" Ariadne knew the feeling of a angry subconscious all too well, she still had nightmares with Mal stabbing her from time to time, Cobb was still talking "And well, seven years ago, Arthur and I didn't have the same stamina we have today, we did our best, but it was rough, Peter found the vault took the information and escaped into the crowd, we where trying a new sedative, not as strong as the one we used in the Fisher job, but one that worked almost the same, dying there, in that dream, would lead us strait to limbo" Cobb took a deep breath "They got Mary first, I tried to get to her, but she would only scream for Peter as the girls Private Security would chase her with guns" Cobb grinned "Arthur tried too, to help her, the subconscious understood that he was a treat too so they shoot him, almost trough the heart, he bleed a lot…"

Ariadne looked at Cobb, his eyes were distant he was replaying the whole scene in his mind. "Anyhow, I manage to keep him alive until the kick so we both got out of the dream…"

"But Mary didn't…"

Cobb nodded, his hands in his pockets. "We tried to wake her up, Peter was nowhere to be found, he packed and leaved while we where trying to get to Mary. Sakura, our chemist, started yelling that the girl we were heisting had shot herself in the dream, or something, because her vital signs were getting stronger; she was going to wake up. We packed as fast as we could; Mary was still connected to the machine, we knew that if we disconnected her, she would die on the spot; we didn't know what to do…" Cobb seamed sad, Ariadne knew that Arthur and him didn't knew Mary all that well but she appreciated the fact that they were human, and that they felt sorry for her. "Sakura had some strong sedative, which would keep Mary dreaming without the machine, she's as good as Yusuf in that sort of things. We sedated Mary, anonymously called an ambulance saying that a girl in the street had had a stroke. And we shamelessly left her on a bench for the ambulance to take her…"

Ariadne looked at Cobb that smiled. A sad smile but a smile, "We tracked her to the hospital and found that Sakura's sedative had worked, she was in a coma, but still alive. There was nothing we could do, she was in limbo and she only wanted Peter, so there was no use in Arthur, Sakura or me to go and fetch her, she wouldn't come…"

"And you would put yourselves in danger for nothing…"

"Exactly…"

Ariadne took a deep breath. "But Cobb, even if you disconnected her straight from the machine, no sedative at all, she would still go to limbo…"

Cobb nodded. "Back then, we didn't know half the stuff we know now…" Cobb raised his shoulders slightly "Dream heisting was only beginning to get a name and being recognised as a 'job'…" He smiled at Ariadne "We were amateurs, really… Except maybe for Sakura and Peter… They were good…"

Ariadne sat on a bench and looked around. The garden was alive, butterflies, children playing, and water falling. Looking at Cobb that was still up she said "You're really talented…"

Cobb shocks his shoulders and his head.

"I gave up on this Ariadne, after Mal… You know it better than anyone else; this is just too much for me…"

Ariadne nodded. Yes, she knew what he was talking about.

"Did you talk with James and Phillipa when you arrived?"

Ariadne smiled remembering James and Phillipa running towards her and asking for a hug and a kiss and if she had brought them candy. She loved her nice and nephew. And yes, she had brought them candy. Even thou Professor Miles and his wife disapproved entirely of sugar. She was almost sure that was the reason she and Arthur always brought the kids candy.

"A bit…"

Cobb smiled, the smile didn't last thou. "They asked me where Uncle Arthur was, it's strange for them to see you without him…" he looked at Ariadne "They asked me if you had a fight and if that was why he didn't come."

Ariadne looked back at Cobb, she smiled sadly. Had it been that simple and she would be talking with her best-friend, not Cobb.

"I know, when you were talking to Professor Miles about the machine, Phillipa asked me where Arthur was…"

Cobb rolled his eyes. He didn't like the idea of his in-laws living so close but Phillipa and James were too found of them. So Cobb had no choice but to almost live with them. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her that he was working and that I was going to pick him up later, and that one of this days we would go and catch a movie all the four of us…"

Cobb grinned. "Trying to convince her?"

Ariadne shocked her head. "No. Trying to convince myself actually…"

"It can't be that bad Ariadne…"

He was trying to reassure her but she wasn't in the mood for it. She was sad and feeling lost but she didn't want pity. "Well, it isn't good, Cobb… Can you assure me that it's even possible to enter an unconscious person limbo? Her brain activity is down to a minimum…"

Cobb smiled. "Sounds as easy to do as an Inception…"

Ariadne laughed.

"So, you are going to pick Arthur and take my kids to the movies…"

Ariadne nodded. "That's the plan…"

"And if you can't get Arthur?"

She stood silent for a minute, a world of possibilities running trough her mind and then she replied "Don't you dare try to pick us Cobb…"

Cobb raised his shoulders slightly. "If I can get Saito…"

Ariadne shook her head. It was not comparable and they both knew it. "Saito was your ticket to your children, had he died and everything would be for nothing…" she took a deep breath "Now, if Arthur and I don't come back you don't lose much… Movie tickets are what? 25$ for the three of you plus popcorn?"

Cobb sighed. "I would lose two good friends and James and Phillipa would lose their favourite aunt and uncle…"

Ariadne laughed. She was trying to keep a light mood.

"Don't you let Eames hear you say that! You know he has to be the favourite uncle."

Cobb smiled and nodded, it was true, every time Eames came to visit he always said to James and Phillipa that their favourite uncle had arrived. Looking at Ariadne who was lost in her own thoughts Cobb said "I'm only asking Ariadne, if you are 100% sure you can go there, do the job, pick Arthur up and don't lose yourself…"

"I'm 100% sure that I'll succeed or get stuck in there trying…"

Cobb nodded and sited next to Ariadne before saying "You know, the first time I saw you, I knew you were a smart girl" Ariadne smiled back at him, "Miles wouldn't introduce me to you if you weren't, but I never imagine that you were this strong or courageous…"

Ariadne smiled. "I have this innocent look…"

"Yeah, you look a lot like that girl from 'Juno'…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. She could recall her mother, her friends and even Arthur commenting the same. "Argh! Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Maybe it's the true…"

"Bah!"

Cobb smiled again and looked at the garden.

"You know, Arthur was lucky to see trough your innocent look, before anyone else, I mean…"

Ariadne lost herself in memories while replying to Cobb. "He was there when I awoke from my first dream experience…" Cobb smiled. "And he comforted me after Mal stabbed me…"

"Sorry about that…"

She raised her shoulders slightly. "It's ok, it's not like you could control it and you did your best to stop it… Anyway, Arthur was there all along, he taught me about totems, showed me his, told me how to create one…" she could feel her bishop in her back pocket, she never left him, if she could shower with it, she would, she smiled a bit "He taught me paradoxes and how to create perfect mazes… When we arrived in America he had all planed for me, where I was going to stay, who I was going to visit, it was so strange and freaking scary, but at the same time, it felt like it was his way of showing me he cared… In the end he saw it because he was with me every step of the way…"

Cobb nodded before adding "Probably the fact that he's a Point-Man and has learned to study and read people at a glance helped…"

Ariadne smiled. "Probably…"

They stood silent for a couple of minutes before Cobb asked "So what does Peter want?"

"Something only Mary knows" Ariadne answered "Apparently Mary believed that '_Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead_', so you can see Peters problem…"

Cobb whistled. "Now that's unexpected, I never imagine Mary to be a murdered… In real live at least…"

Ariadne looked Cobb in the eyes, he could see she was shocked, like it had been him telling her that Mary was a murder and not the other way around. "I know! When Arthur first told me about her, I pictured her almost like a damsel in distress, waiting for Prince Charming Peter to come and pick her up, now she doesn't seam so innocent at all…"

The boys passed them again making Ariadne smile. She wondered for a minute if she lost Arthur, would he become another Mal? Cobb took her away from her thoughts saying "As far as I know, Arthur and I only worked with her that one time, so we couldn't have guessed that either…"

"I wonder what she knows…"

"Not the mobster's plans, Peter took those, and he's not going after her for love, that I can assure you…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "You don't need to, I know that…"

Cobb stood silent for a minute, probably analysing all he knew about Mary and what she could possible have found out. "She must know something really big… How much is he paying you?"

Ariadne took a deep breath. "He's giving me the chance to go and get Arthur and if I succeed he's never going to bother us again…"

Cobb blinked. "You believed that?"

"No" Ariadne said with a smile "that why I asked for a big fat pay check to go along with it…"

Cobb laughed. "That's always nice…"

"Cobb?"

Her voice was serious. He didn't like it. "Yes?"

"If Arthur and I don't return I want you to have the money, I want you to have everything we own…"

He blinked. "Ariadne…"

She smiled, silent tears running trough her eyes. "So you can give it to James and Phillipa… I mean they are what? Two years apart? How are you going to put them trough College, that's expensive, go by me…"

He wanted to reach out to her and comfort her, but he didn't know how. This wasn't the architect student he had met four years ago. This was Ariadne, Architect, and Arthur's wife. She wasn't a kid he could hug, like Phillipa or James and give a kiss in the front head and tell her that 'everything was going to be all right'. "Ariadne…"

Ariadne cleaned her tears rapidly. "And I bet you wasted a tone of money trying to go back to them, you mustn't have that must left…"

"Even so…"

"How do you think Mary's limbo looks like?"

Cobb blinked. He knew she wasn't going to bring the matter of 'The Will' again. Ariadne took a deep breath; she had said what she wanted to say. Cobb raised his shoulders slightly. "I have no idea… Limbo is a shared dream state, you saw the city Mal and I constructed because I was connected to the machine, and because we took fifty years build the whole thing, it was a very strong limbo, when I returned there, Saito had been there for sixty years so limbo was then constructed by him and his ideas…"

She nodded. "So there's no way to know what Mary's limbo looks like…"

Cobb sighed. "Yes."

She looked at the clouds, so fluffy that they could almost be made of candy. "It can be anything…"

"Yes."

Ariadne grinned. "Even the world?"

Cobb nodded. "Even the whole world… She has been there for the past seven years… Seven real life years, that's too much time in limbo…"

"Hmmm… Maybe she took this garden with her…"

Cobb raised from the bench and looked at her. "Ariadne?"

She looked curious at him. "Yes?"

Cobb smiled. "More than the money, Phillipa and James want their aunt and uncle back, and they want to go with you to the movies, so do see if you return, or we'll have to go and pick you up…"

Ariadne blinked. "We?"

Cobb was still looking at her. "Off course or do you think Eames and Yusuf are going to stand back and wait while I go down there all by myself? Yusuf had that major crush on you…"

Ariadne sensed her face heating and got up from the bench as well. "Don't you remind me of that…"

Cobb laughed before adding, "And you know Eames! He adores you and Arthur, that's why he teases you two… You don't see him teasing me…"

Ariadne nodded. It was true; Eames never teased Cobb, well, not as much as he teased her and Arthur anyway. "I'll do my best Cobb…"

Cobb looked serious at her. "Let's hope, that your best is enough Ariadne…"

* * *

Peter looked around; he seemed surprised, in a good way. "Perfect" he said "even Cobb wouldn't have recreated it better…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. It was the second time in less than five hour that she was in that garden and she was growing sick of it.

She looked at Peter and tried to control her rage as she said "When are we going in? And why do you want this garden for? If she's in limbo, that's where we will be going…"

He looked back at her, looking her in the eyes. "Ariadne, dear, are you afraid that dear Arthur will die? That's sweet, sugar plum, but don't worry, Mary's been in limbo for seven years…"

She controlled herself as best as she could. She hated "sugar plum" more than she hated "lover" now. "I know how much time she has been in coma! And I know that makes her older than freaking Dumbledore…"

"Had he not been killed, he could have lived longer…"

Aridane rolled her eyes. "I'm not amused…"

Peter smiled and fixed his tie. That man had a thing for his ties. "Ariadne, Mary's still alive, for all we know she might as well have uncovered the secret to immortality, so relax, will you darling?"

Ariande closed her fists. "I don't believe she's alive in limbo…."

Peter rolled his eyes. "She has to be or her mental activity would have stopped, she's dreaming…" he raised his shoulders slightly "believe it if you wish or if you prefer to imagine Arthur lost in a big black whole, that's up to you, sugar…"

After a while and seeing she wasn't going to reply Peter added "Don't be like that Ariadne, it took you less than twelve hours to create this after I took Arthur…"

Ariadne crossed her arms, her lips tight, her face all too serious. "Actually, it took me eight hours and forty five minutes…"

He blinked. She knew he wasn't expecting it. "Really? Now, that's impressive…" he laughed "I'm starting to think I made a bad arrangement with you, I truly regret saying I would let you two go…"

"It's not like it takes too much talent…"

Peter nodded. "True, but it takes a strong passion…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "Don't play sweet with me…"

"I'm trying since the begin sugar plum, you haven't fallen yet…"

She looked at his grin, her stomach wanted to puck. "I would be happy if you stopped…"

"Last time I checked you weren't married…"

"Last time I checked I wasn't interested…" she looked him in the eyes "how much time before we go in?"

He looked at his watch. "Two hours, given or taken… Some arrangements are still in order…"

Ariadne nodded. "You just get me there!"

He laughed. "Why love, I'll even shoot you straight to limbo… If you are in a hurry…"

She smiled at him, a fake smile, so fake that it even hurt her face to do it. "Don't bother; I can get there myself after shooting you…"

He smiled back at her. "Oh my, so cooperative… I'm starting to like you even more…"

**End of Chapter 2**

**N.A:** I hope I didn't make a lot of mistakes =/


	3. Sakura

**N.A: **So my Beta is still out of reach. She's got a bunch of exams so she can't correct my grammar. I hope my raw chapters aren't bad. I'm sorry for the delay, but I have 3 part-time jobs now and virtually no time for writing. But I'll finish this story. =o)

**Sakura**

_"The world is too heavy,  
Too big for my shoulders,  
Come take the weight off me, now.  
Thousands of answers,  
For one simple question,  
Come take the weight off me, now.  
I'm like a kid who just won't let it go,  
Twisting and turning the colours in rows,  
I'm so intensified that's what it is.  
This is my Rubik's Cube  
And all I can't figure it out."_

~ _Rubik's Cube_ by Athlete

They were in an abandoned hospital. Or was it an Asylum? Did it matter? Mary was there, "sleeping"; her red hair combed around her face, the machine monitoring her vital signs. She was wearing hospital clothing, her face white as marble. She was breathing slowly. "_Being in coma does that to you_", he caught himself thinking.

Peter was sited watching Sakura work. He was stressed, if you didn't know him you wouldn't be able to tell, but Arthur knew him all too well. The hands pressed one against the other, this eyes looking strait at Sakura but not seeing her, his lips in a straight line. You could always know he was worried if there wasn't a grin in the corner of his mouth.

For Peter everything was funny, everyone was boring and he, off course, was the king of the Dream Jobs. You could see why he didn't have many friends, if, Arthur though, he had any friends at all.

The Chemist on the other hand was working hard. Sakura was like that, when she committed she would get things done. Japanese people were all like that or so Arthur though. He remembered Saito in the Fisher job and how he had bought the airline so things would be easier. Sakura seamed that kind of person, someone how would bout every chemic on the market because, you know, you could never know when you would need some chemical no one ever heard about.

Peter took a deep breath before saying, "Sakura, I don't want to hurry you, honey but I'm not getting any younger here!"

Arthur rolled is eyes, Sakura looked at Peter from the corner of her eyes, a fake smile in her lips. "Perfection doesn't like to be hurried…"

Peter stood up and kicked a stone that wasn't there. "Well, I don't have all morning…"

Arthur saw Peter looking at him. A smirk spearing in his face as he said, "You see Sakura, Arthur's Sugar Plum is going to join us soon…"

Arthur grinds his teeth. Peter had found something to do to pass time while things weren't ready. Torture him. Sakura looked at him with interest. She seamed to study him for a while, and then she smiled, not a fake smile like Peters or the one she had showed Peter before, just a plain smile.

"Why, Arthur, I didn't know you had a…" her hand was spinning in the air as she looked for the word.

"Wife…" Arthur said.

"Girlfriend…" Peter corrected immediately, his face frowned, "She's only your girlfriend, fiancée if I'm in a good mood…"

Arthur looked furious at Peter. "You don't get to decide what kind of relation I have with her Peter…"

Peter rolled his eyes and was going to say something but Sakura stopped him by saying calmly, "So you have a wife, Arthur? Strange, I never saw you as the marring type…"

Arthur rolled his eyes. Peters cell phone ringed, he looked at it and then said to Sakura before leaving the room "Hurry up; we don't have that much time…"

Sakura nodded as Peter leaved. Arthur looked at her. He was tied to a chair. He had been trying to escape but since he was no MacGyver he hadn't succeed yet. He looked at Sakura who was finishing the mix for the machine. She didn't seamed distressed by Peters comments or orders, she was taking her time doing things one at a time, very calmly.

"How can you work for him?" Arthur finally asked "He left us to die…"

"Correction" Sakura said "He left you, Cobb and Mary to die; I wasn't in the dream and I won't be in it again this time…"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Even so…"

She raised her shoulders slightly. "It's just a job you know…"

"So you approve of what he did?"

Sakura eyes meet Arthur's. There was no emotion in them, like she was a machine, processing things and answering according to the occasion. "I never said I approved of anything Arthur. Could you be kind enough to not say that I said something I didn't?"

Arthur took a deep breath. "Then what's your view of the case?"

Sakura inserted the mix in the machine while answering, "I think he did what he though was right, he made a choice, when ether it was a good one or a bad one, it had no influence in me or in the fact that I can still work with him…"

Arthur rolled his eyes again. "For me that means approval…"

Sakura looked straight into his eyes. This time there was emotion on them, a kind of anger or sense of betrayal. Arthur couldn't understand which was more powerful. "No." Sakura crossed her arms. "If you really want to know, I would never go into a dream with Peter. He's a bastard, a coward and he only knows to take things by force, obviously his mother never taught him to be gentle… or politeness…"

Arthur grunted. "Yet, you work for him…"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I see it as a job…"

Arthur laughed. She had to be joking. "It's a team job! When your leader leaves the whole freaking team behind something is wrong!" He looked her straight in the eyes. "And it's not the teams fault believe me…"

"I trust Peter as much as you do Arthur…"

"Then why?"

Sakura stopped what she was doing and looked him in the eyes. "Because I don't want to see my two year old boy tied to a chair like you're now…" Arthur blinked as Sakura continued talking "I might hate Peter or not, I may disapprove of him or not, I may not even know what I feel about him in the first place but I know this one thing about Peter…" she eyes where locked in his "when he puts something in his mind, no one can change it, and Arthur, I might loath Peter, but I'm smarter, I prefer an easy breezy collaboration than a forced one…"

There was a small silence. Arthur didn't know what to say. He looked at a Sakura who had returned to her chemistry. Taking a deep breath Arthur said "I didn't know you had a son…"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, I didn't know you had a wife…"

Ten minutes passed before Arthur spoke again "So, where is he?"

Sakura looked at him for a few seconds "You mean my son?" Arthur nodded, Sakura smiled, a mother's smile, "He's with his grandmother… Safe…" she looked at the door before adding "Away from Peter and all this rubbish! If I do my job right he'll never enter this freaking Dream World…"

"I didn't know you regretted your job…"

Sakura took a deep breath. This job had cost her more that Arthur or anyone else could possibly have imagined. She had never had a relationship in her life, at least a real and long one; her son was made in… Well, she didn't even want to think about that… She all the money she could ask for, all the comfort, the love of her mother and her two year old son, but somehow, she wasn't happy.

Dreaming had lost all of its magic. It was just drugs and mind tricks. Quotes like "_Reach for your dreams_", and "_Dreams are what we are made of_" made no sense to her anymore. She didn't want to take that from her son. She looked at Arthur "How much do we know about each other Arthur? We worked together what? Just that one time? We were young and naïve and Peter took advantage of that…"

Arthur took a deep breath and looked at Mary who hadn't moved. "He was my best friend…"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh please! Don't go all Harry Potter on me screaming 'He was their friend!', I just had a marathon this weekend of it with my goddaughter _fangirling_ all over…"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "He was my best friend Sakura and he left me to die and now he's going to do the same to my wife…"

Sakura nodded. "See why I said yes when he offered me the job?" she smiled, a sad smile "Sometimes we have to forget our personal feelings to protect the ones we love, maybe if you had said yes, he wouldn't have taken you two apart by force…"

Arthur shocked his head. "Ariadne is the best, he would want her again and again, and he would never let her go" he looked Sakura in the eyes "that was why I couldn't let him take her…"

"And so, he took you…" she raised her shoulders slightly "it goes down to the same…"

"It doesn't…"

Sakura blinked. "Is that so?"

Arthur seamed secure off himself. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I stood for what I know is right, I stood for my wife, for her life and her liberty… Damn! I stood for our life and liberty. So we could live as we wished and worked the jobs we wanted to work…"

"And I'm a monster because I said yes and tagged along?"

"Someone once said, if your stand for nothing, you'll die for nothing" Arthur shocked his head "I prefer dieing that let that bastard take one single look at Ariadne…"

"Hmmm…"

Arthur looked at her. "Sakura, your son can lose his mother in this job, for all we know Peter can kill us all in the end…"

"Yet your wife 'agreed' to work with him…" Sakura had used her finger to put marks in the word 'agreed' which made Arthur roll his eyes.

"I can only imagine the lies he told her…"

Sakura raised her shoulders. "Oh, you don't need to tell many lies, just one will do…"

Arthur looked at her curios. "One?"

"Yes, the cruellest of them all, the lie that there's hope…" Arthur blinked as Sakura went on talking "Hope that she can have you back; hope that you can be together again… Peter doesn't need to do more than that…"

Arthur kicked the leg of his chair. Sakura looked at him, he was trembling with rage, and she had never seen him like that before.

He laughed, a sad laugh, "I never though I would wish to never be with her again, but if that would have keep him away from her, I would, I would never see her again… "

Sakura took a deep breath, walked to him and started to put the wires so he could be connected to the machine. "You do understand that he's only after her because of what she is…"

Arthur rolled his eyes before saying, "The best Architect in the market…"

Sakura shocked her head. "No." she replied slowly "Your wife…"

Arthur looked at her in shock. Suddenly he heard Ariadne's voice, she was talking to Peter. He wanted to yell but Sakura covered his mouth and shocking her head she only said before pressing the button that connected him to the machine. "You got it all wrong Arthur…"

"And here we are…"

Peter had opened the door as Sakura had moved away from Arthur. When Ariadne walked in, Sakura was looking at her mixtures, she looked at Ariadne and they exchanged looks. A very quick glance, but between women sometimes that was enough.

"Sakura, darling meet Ariadne…"

Sakura smiled. She never imagined Ariadne would look so young, she always imagined Arthur would pick an older woman, a practical, tidy and… Well, a female version of himself really. "Oh! So you're Arthur's wife!"

Peter rolled his eyes but Ariadne smiled and said "Yes…"

"Pleasure to meet you…"

"The same…"

When she had opened the door Ariadne saw a sleeping Arthur sited in a chair. She had promised herself she wouldn't run to him. She didn't want to seam desperate, so when the presentations had ended she walked slowly towards him. Sakura studied her as she walked slowly towards Arthur as Peter continues talking.

She saw how Ariadne was closing her fists, how she was walking when she really wanted to run. How she just hold his hand when she probably wanted to kiss and hug him. How she just whispered his name when she would want to tell him how much she loved him.

Sakura shocked her head. This was Peter, weakness lead to death. Peter was still talking but as far as Sakura was concerned he was still talking to Ariadne. She off course wasn't listening to him at all. She was lost in Arthur.

Sakura looked at Peter who, lost in himself was still talking and said "Ready when you are Peter…"

Peter blinked and looked around, then he looked puzzled at Sakura before asking "Where's Carlos?"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know, I though you would bring him…"

Peter swore and picked his cell phone before leaving the room. Sakura smiled as he left. Ariadne saw him leaving the room and took a deep breath. She could almost feel like she hadn't been breathing for the last hours. She caressed Arthur's hair while holding his hand.

Sakura looked at Mary and went near here, to check something that didn't need to be checked at all. Then she turned to Ariadne. "You know what?" Ariadne looked at her and blinked as she went on talking "I think Carlos changed his phone number yesterday, I better go outside and tell Peter all about it…"

Ariadne smiled at Sakura and bitted her lip before saying "Thanks… I… I think you should…"

Sakura nodded and went trough the door saying before closing it "Well be back in 5, 10m tops…"

Ariadne nodded.

"After all, Carlos won't be that far… He has that Latino…" she started rotating her hand like she was looking for words "What should I call it?" she raised her shoulders slightly "He's never on time you see, but he's never too late…"

She smiled until Sakura left the room. Then as she turned to Arthur she couldn't help but think how he seamed so peaceful. Truth was they all seamed peaceful when they were dreaming trough the machine. Like nothing could go wrong.

Maybe, Ariadne thought, just maybe, Mary's limbo wasn't such a bad place, maybe there was a chance Arthur could remain conscience that he was in a dream, that the world he was in was just a dream.

But if that was so, wouldn't he have wakened up already? Wouldn't he have done something to come back? Ariadne smiled at him although she knew he wouldn't be able to see it. She was going to get him, even if it killed her.

She decided to take the last minutes of solitude to kiss Arthur softly on the lips and whisper in his hears "Its ok love, I've got you… I'm going to bring you back…"

Peter came back in followed by Sakura and a man Ariadne knew had to be Carlos. Maybe because she knew he was Spanish and maybe, but just maybe, because he, strangely, looked a lot like Javier Barden. The fact made Ariadne blink; she was a great fan of the actor. This job was going to be strange.

Carlos waved a military salute and just took one of the reclined chairs. He lied on it and waited. It was like he had been there all along and wasn't even late. Sakura blinked at Ariadne who smiled back. She was still holding Arthur hand, Peter rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Sakura went near the machine and started putting her mixture in it. Lying down Carlos was looking out the window. Ariadne looked at her team members. Peter was a traitor of the worse kind, Sakura seamed OK, but there was something about her that made Ariadne not to trust her completely and Carlos was simply a mess.

She knew things couldn't go well. Looking at Arthur she knew he would kill her for even thought of trying to save him. Now that she actually trying to do it she knew he would kill Peter as soon as he could. Peter was lying down on the chair, Sakura was connecting Carlos to the machine. Ariadne picked a chair and sited herself next to Arthur, her head resting on his shoulder.

Peter grinned, "You're going to have a neck ache when you wake up sugar plum…"

Ariadne raised her shoulders slightly. Sakura smiled, her back turned to Peter, she had just connected him and was now wiring Aridane. Looking straight into Ariadne eye, she only said in a whisper "_In doubt, leave the bastard behind, he will do the same with us…_"

Ariadne held Arthur's hand with all her strength. "_I know what he's capable of.."_

Sakura shock her head. "_No Ariadne, you have no idea._"

"Ready when you're Sakura…"

Sakura smiled and said in a whisper to Ariadne "_Good luck, you'll need it…_"

"_Thanks, I guess…_"

"Sweet dreams people…" Sakura whished as she pressed the button.

Ariadne's last thoughts where: 'Was possible to enter the limbo of a person that was in a coma?'. Could Sakura really do it? She knew she should have though of Arthur, but she couldn't, especially after hearing someone shout her name as she went to sleep.

* * *

Ariadne looked around. She was in a carriage with Carlos and Peter and they were dressed in middle age clothing, the air smelled awfully and she had no idea what had happened.

"Parece que no hubo suerte con el jardín..." Carlos commented. The first words Ariadne hear him say and she had no idea of what they meant.

Peter smiled and replied "Nada de lo que no estaba ya allí, esperando ..."

Ariadne blinked. If they were going to talk Spanish there was no way she could follow the conversation. She though of all the French she had learned. Why couldn't be them speaking French?

Carlos smiled "Me parece que estamos asustando la chica ...".

Peter grinned at Ariadne before telling Carlos "Deje que tener miedo. Si ella no estaba entonces yo me preocuparía ..."

"¿Qué crees que vamos a encontrar ..."

Peter raised his shoulders slightly. "No me puedo imaginar. Sea lo que sea que vamos a encontrar muy pronto ..."

Ariadne looked out the carriage and saw the garden Cobb had drawn so many years ago. It was the same, it had the same projections, but they were all wearing medieval clothes. What was going on? What kind of limbo was this? Sure Arthur knew that it wasn't the right time! Wouldn't he know?

Carlos blinked. He was looking carefully at Ariadne. "Y la niña?"

Peter smiled. A crocks smile. "Ella es el cebo ... No la dejes saber ..."

Carlos nodded. Peter smiled at Ariadne before saying "You know, Mary was an Ancient History Major in college…"

"Oh" Ariadne replied.

"She was also very found of fairy tales, which, as you know are normally set in a medieval time…"

She nodded before asking "Should I be prepared to fight dragons?"

Peter raised his shoulders. "Who knows?"

Ariadne put her head outside the carriage and saw a path that lead to a castle. Whatever was happening Mary was in total control and she wasn't sure if she liked that idea.

"Apuesto veinte dólares ya que no va a sobrevivir." Carlos said.

Peter looked at him and smiled "Apuesta a Carlos. Con Arthur su formación, apuesto a que ella puede tomar un dragón todos los días de la semana ..."

"La apuesta es en ese momento."

"Could you stop speak Spanish?" Ariadne asked. She was getting nervous. As far as she knew Carlos could only speak Spanish which wasn't good at all.

Carlos laughed and Peter smiled at her. Looking at her Carlos said "I speak english... very bad... but still... a bit..."

Ariadne took a long deep breath. Peter smiled before saying "Relax sugar plum, Carlos and I were just betting…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes as she took a deep breath. "On what may I ask?"

"Nothing special" Peter started "Only if you would survive or not…" Ariadne looked seriously at him "Personally I bet you'll, Carlos isn't so confident…"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "Well, thank you for your trust Peter…"

"You're most welcome…"

**End of chapter 3**

**N.A: **I'm sorry if you think the story is going to slowly. I'll try my best to rush chapter 4, so you won't have to wait too long =o)**  
**


End file.
